La Seda de Barcelona to halve PET capacity by disposing off non-core plant

23-Aug-10

Spanish PET producer La Seda de Barcelona SA plans to halve its PET capacity by disposing off non-core polymer and raw material plants in Italy, Portugal, Greece, Turkey and Spain as part of a radical restructuring plan, as per Plastics & Rubber Weekly. The vertically integrated group that saw rapid growth with a series of major European acquisitions has decided to hive off non-strategic operations, sell excess land and reduce overall workforce by another 300 to adjust to the planned reduced PET capacity. With this, the company will reposition itself as a leading PET solutions company, and focus largely on its PET packaging business. The company has started to negotiate layoffs at its PET and raw material plants at El Prat de Llobregat and Tarragona in Spain. Plans are being considered to close its PET plant at La Roque, Spain unless it gets agreement to a plan to a "considerable reduction in labor costs" as well as savings in the cost of raw materials and energy to ensure its future viability. This plant faces mounting competition from the Middle East.